English Bio
Colleen Muriel is a Canadian composer living in London, England. The first two concerts of Colleen’s compositions were given in 1997 and 1998 in Vancouver, Canada. Since then her music has been performed and recorded in Canada, the USA, UK, Western Europe, Bulgaria, Australia, Asia (including Vietnam and Japan), and Brazil.
Her music has been featured on a number of radio stations in the UK and Canada. Her music has also been performed at The 15th London New Wind Festival; Sonic Boom (Vancouver Pro Musica); Women Composers Festival of Hartford, USA; Diamond Jubilee Concert (in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s 50 year reign – London); and Music Fest Aberystwyth, Wales.
She has written and/or arranged well over 600 pieces of music for various instruments and ensembles ranging in style from simple folk melodies to the avant-garde. These works include chamber music (instrumental), a chamber opera, choir music, string quartets, solo music for piano, flute, singers as well as hymn tunes.
She has published (El Flauto Records) 68 books of sheet music and released 14 CDs, all containing original compositions and/or arrangements. These all sell on a number of sites including Tutti Classical Music, Amazon, All Flutes Plus and her own website (elflauto.ca).
Colleen belongs to SOCAN, ACWC, CLC, CMRRA, Women in Music UK, CCLI and BASCA.
French Bio
La compositrice canadienne Colleen Muriel (baccalauréat et maîtrise en musique, FRSM, FTCL, ARCT) est maintenant domiciliée à Londres, en Angleterre. C’est à Vancouver, au Canada, que les premiers concerts de ses œuvres ont été donnés en 1997 et 1998. Depuis, ses partitions sont interprétées et enregistrées au Canada, aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni, en Europe de l’Ouest, en Bulgarie, en Australie, au Brésil et en Asie (notamment au Vietnam et au Japon).
Programmée sur les ondes de nombreuses stations de radio, la musique de Colleen Muriel a également été présentée lors de la 15e édition du London New Wind Festival, de Sonic Boom (par la société Pro Musica de Vancouver), du Festival des femmes compositrices de Hartford (É.-U.), du Music Fest Aberystwyth au Pays de Galles, et lors du concert du Jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II à Londres.
Les partitions de Colleen Muriel font également partie du programme de la Vitrine contemporaine de l’Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects, ainsi que du tout premier catalogue international de musique pour flûte composée par des femmes, le Compendium Musicæ Flauta.
Le catalogue des compositions de Colleen Muriel regroupe plus de 600 partitions ou arrangements pour divers instruments ou ensembles, allant de la simple mélodie folklorique à du répertoire d’avant-garde, et d’œuvres de musique de chambre à des cantiques, en passant par un opéra de chambre, des pièces orchestrales, des œuvres chorales, des quatuors pour cordes ou des partitions solistes pour piano, flûte ou voix.
Colleen Muriel a publié chez El Flauto Records de nombreuses partitions et plusieurs disques compacts de compositions ou d’arrangements inédits.
List of Works
Representative Works
War and Heartbreak (2008) — flute, piano and piano strings (c.25 minutes)
Premiere performance Colleen Muriel (flute) and Ben Pinnow (piano) St. John’s Waterloo, London, England, August 29, 2008
Kyrie (2012) — mezzo-soprano,flute and piano) (c. 8 minutes)
Premiere performance by Alison Wheeler (mezzo-soprano), Julian Callows (piano) and Colleen Muriel (flute), All Hallows By The Tower, London, Engand, May 26, 2012
Invisible (2014) — mezzo-soprano, tenor, child soloist, 2 pianos (piano/piano strings, flute (c. 30 minutes)
Commissioned by Winifred Hall
Contemplations (2010) — flute and piano strings (c. 6 minutes)
Premiere performance by Eric Stevens and Colleen Muriel, All Hallows by the Tower, London, England January 14, 2012
Fantasia and Ricercare (2003) — organ (c. 8 minutes)
Premiere performance Wilbur Hughes, St. Andrews Cathedral, Sydney, Australia August 6, 2004
Vancouver Rain (2006) — piano (c. 8 minutes)
Premiere performance by Rachel Iwassa, Opening Festival Concert Premiere – Sonic Boom, March 16, 2006
The Nearness of the Beloved (1997) — flute and piano (c. 5 minutes)
Premiere performance by Colleen Muriel and Grant Rowledge
Genesis (1997) — solo viola (c. 4 minutes)
Premiere performance by Derek Darling at The Lutheran Campus Centre, UBC, Canada (1997)
Butterflies and Chimes (1999) — string quartet (c. 4:56 minutes)
Premiere performance by Rosalie Carver (violin), Emily Greenlaw (viola), Gilian Wayman (cello), Colleen Muriel (flute – substitute for violin 2), Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church, Vancouver, Canada, October 3, 1999
Meditation on Runyan’s Faithfulness (1998) — vibraphone solo (c.10 minutes)
Premiere performance by Nick Coulter, St. Marks Church, Vancouver, Canada (1998)
Choral Music
Holy, Holy, Holy (2001) — SATB (c. 6 minutes) words by Reginald Heber
Our Father In Heaven (1999) — SATB (c. 2 minutes) text based on Matthew 6: 9 – 13
Premiere performance and recording by Elektra, Vancouver, Canada, 1999
Sanctus and Benedictus (2010) — SATB (c. 5 minutes)
The Angels Have Come Again (1999) — SATB) (c. 5 minutes)
Commissioned by Deryk Forster for the Chamber Choir of Magee Secondary School, Vancouver, Canada
Thoughts From Psalm 13 (2001) — SAB (c. 4 minutes) words from Psalm 13.
Beautiful Saviour (2002) — STB (c. 6 minutes) words from Gesangbuch, Munster, 1672; translated by Joseph A. Seiss
Our Father In Heaven — SSA (c. 3 minutes) text based on Matthew 6:9-13
Sanctus and Benedictus (2010) — SA and piano (c. 5 minutes)